Twenty Years to Midnight
"Twenty Years to Midnight" is an episode of the animated television series The Venture Bros., the fifth episode of the second season. Plot A strange craft lands outside the Venture Compound in the night. A twelve-foot-tall thin figure, reminiscent of Galactus or the Celestials, disembarks and scans the compound, locating Dr. Venture on the toilet. Inside, Brock finds an old box while cleaning and calls for Dr. Venture on his wrist communicator. Venture arrives to find the boys examining the box's contents, but Brock points out one particular item: an apparent Betamax tape. Playing the tape, they view a message recorded by Jonas Venture Sr. about 20 years ago. He explains that he deciphered a radio signal from deep space that was addressed to him specifically. Jonas says that his "greatest invention" must be assembled and activated at midnight on a specific date -- which Brock notes is the following day. Failure to do so will have grave consequences for mankind. Jonas ends the message by listing the locations of the device's components. The first piece is stashed away on Spider-Skull Island, now the home of Jonas Jr. Annoyed at the prospect of dealing with his brother, Dr. Venture decides to attempt to acquire the component in secret. Suddenly, the group turns to see the tall, unearthly figure of the craft's occupant looming outside the window. When they walk outside to confront him, the being speaks in a booming voice that nearly deafens the Ventures. He introduces himself as "The Grand Galactic Inquisitor" who will pass judgment on humanity based on criteria they cannot hope to comprehend. He instructs them to go about their normal routine and not to speak to him, booming cheap intercom "IGNORE ME!" Team Venture, accompanied by the intrusive Inquisitor, fly to the island in the X-1. Brock and the boys sneak aboard the X-2 (Venture Industries' high-tech research ship) while Thaddeus enters the compound. Onboard the X-2, Brock and the boys discover the faux ghost-pirate captain from "Ghosts of the Sargasso," whom Jonas Jr. has now hired as captain of the ship. Unsurprisingly, Dr. Venture is spotted while sneaking into the building. After he reluctantly explains the situation to Jonas Jr., the group gathers to watch the tape. The clearly more competent Jonas, who now calls himself "J.J.", formulates a plan with Brock, ignoring Thaddeus' outraged protests. They split into three teams: Brock and Thaddeus take the X-1, J.J. and the captain on the X-2, and Hank and Dean on the X-X-1, a new aircraft built by Jonas Jr. which is capable of flying itself. In a series of quick, inter-cut scenes, the three teams hunt for the components: Hank and Dean's trip takes them to the retreat of Colonel Horace Gentleman (last seen in "Past Tense"). To their horror, they find him lying dead in his bed. Searching for clues to the component's location, Dean reads through the colonel's diary but finds it full of nonsensical ramblings and bizarre lists. Hank accidentally breaks the handle off Gentleman's walking stick, and as he looks into its hollow shaft, the component slides out and smacks him in the face. Jonas Jr. and the Captain scuba-dive to a bathysphere called "Quest Bell One." Inside, they are confronted by an emaciated, paranoid, gun-waving Jonny Quest, now apparently in his forties. After noticing the empty pill bottles on the floor, the Captain explains that Jonas Jr. is a doctor that can write any prescriptions Quest wants. J.J. plays along after recovering from his initial confusion. In New York, Thaddeus and Brock have arrived at 1 Impossible Plaza, the headquarters of Impossible Industries (which resembles the Fantastic Four's Four Freedoms Plaza). Venture reveals that it used to be the site of Venture Industries' headquarters, and one of the device's component is still hidden in the foundation. (Venture's previous dealings with the Impossible family were less than pleasant, as seen in "Ice Station -- Impossible!") Inside the building, Sally Impossible is packing a bag when she is confronted by her husband Richard. He is quite suspicious of her motivations, but finally agrees to allow her to "get some fresh air" after assigning bodyguards to accompany her. As Sally boards a subway car to find Dr. Venture waiting, her bodyguards are neatly dispatched by Brock. She tearfully rejoices at seeing Venture again, obviously thinking that he will rescue her from her loveless marriage. Thaddeus plays along somewhat awkwardly, asking her to get him access to the Impossible Plaza basement. The Impossibles' infant son Rocket plays at a nearby park under the supervision of Hank, Dean, and Sally's dimwitted cousin Ned. As the group is ambushed by Impossible's men, Rocket crawls away unnoticed and hides in the X-X-1's landing gear well. Brock expresses his disgust at Venture's manipulation of the obliviously happy Sally as she escorts them into the building's basement. Dr. Venture notes one incident where Brock horribly killed a man. Brock seems to take far more distaste in breaking someone's heart than anything he's done. The three are quickly captured by Richard and taken high into the tower, where they are imprisoned by energy beams alongside Hank, Dean, J.J. and the captain. Professor Impossible explains that he discovered the component years ago, and states that Thaddeus is unfit to activate it after his "years of amphetamines and failure." When Sally asks where Rocket is, Richard shows a complete lack of interest and concern over his son. As he completes assembly of the device (which resembles a metallic door frame) he and Sally begin arguing loudly. While Impossible is distracted, Jonas Jr. uses a communicator hidden in his collar to order H.E.L.P.eR. to deactivate the Impossible security systems. H.E.L.P.eR. successfully does so, but is cornered and hugged into submission by "H.U.G.G.I.E.," the Impossible's robotic babysitter. The Grand Galactic Inquisitor, who had been waiting in the X-X-1 with H.E.L.P.eR., disembarks to find the Ventures and discovers Rocket Impossible crawling unattended. He reluctantly picks up the infant, bellowing "IGNORE ME!" As the energy shackles vanish, Brock and Jonas Jr. grab Richard's face and stretch it across a hallway, pinning it in place with bolts. The furious Impossible inflates himself to fill the room, pushing everyone out the windows. The team grabs onto Impossible's elastic body and plummet to the street below, through a sidewalk grate, and into a subway tunnel where a train narrowly misses them as Impossible's body retracts. As the group plummets into the tunnel again, Brock ties Impossible's foot to the back of the departing train. Richard is stretched to his limits until the train's door handle snaps off and springs back up through the window, knocking him out cold. The completed device lands heavily on the sidewalk just as Brock's watch chimes midnight. Nothing happens. A taxi arrives holding the Grand Galactic Inquisitor and Rocket Impossible. As the Inquisitor announces that he is ready to pass his judgment on humanity, the device finally activates much like a stargate. Jonas Venture, Sr. steps out of the device, looking exactly as he did in the recorded message, and calmly shoots the Inquisitor in the head with an energy weapon. As he turns back to the device as if to leave, Thaddeus and Jonas Jr. tearfully implore him to stay. Hesitantly, "Jonas Venture" admits that he is an alien in disguise who arrived solely to destroy the Inquisitor in order to save the Earth; he assumed the familiar form in order to avoid shocking the Ventures with his appearance. Infuriated by the deception, Thaddeus hurls insults and profanity at the alien. In exasperation, the alien rips open his human face to display his true form. While it is not shown on-camera, the onlookers are horrified beyond words. With a few curt words, the alien disappears through the device once more, which vanishes into itself. While Thaddeus is disappointed that they have nothing to show for their efforts, Brock points out that they did save the world and J.J. expresses his delight that they worked together as a team and a family. After the credits, Sally and J.J. show romantic interest in each other. Brock seems disturbed by the weird events they have witnessed, but Thaddeus dismisses his unease until he notices what Brock is staring at: the elongated, flattened form of Richard Impossible flapping in the night breeze. Venture wonders aloud in bemusement and some confusion "Should we help him?" Quotes *'Dr. Venture:' (seeing the Inquisitor for the first time) Ladysmith Black Mambazo!!! *'Dean:' (while going through a box of Dr. Venture's old things) Ah, neat! You wrote a fan letter to the Herculoids when you were ten? (Hank snatches the letter away from Dean) Hey! Hank: Hey, horses! (reads letter) It's not a fan letter, he calls them hippies for not fighting in Vietnam. (The Grand Inquisitor snatches the letter) Hey! Grand Galactic Inquisitor: IGNORE ME! *'Grand Galactic Inquisitor:' Someone left a baby! (after a pause, he reluctantly picks up Rocket) Rocket: (babbles) Grand Galactic Inquisitor: IGNORE ME! *'Brock Sampson:' What're you doing here? Captain: Yeah, well -- you never seemed to use the boat, so... I kinda started sleepin' here. Only a couple nights a week at first. You try findin' a job with nothin' on your resume but fake ghost pirate-- Brock Sampson: Get to the point! Captain: Yah yah! Geez. Anyhoo... I wakes up one day and there's this little fella standin' there. And he tells me it's his boat now, on account a'yer pa 'et him up when he was wee! *'Captain:' Jesus Jones! Ah, now there was a band. *'Jonny Quest:' Are you cops? *'Sally Impossible:' What could be more important than your family, Richard? Richard Impossible: (baffled by the question) Sssssss-science? *'Richard Impossible:' (as Brock bolts his cheek to a wall) Of all the intolerable bugaboos! *'Inquisitor:' (exiting a taxi) Good news, sample subjects of Earth! The glorious moment of judgment is upon you! Taxi driver: Hey! It's eight-twenty on the meter, stretch! Inquisitor: IGNORE ME! *'"Jonas Venture":' Oh, Rusty. You were never alone. Those stars... well, okay, you can't see them right now because we're in the city, but those stars, they're always watching us. *'Dr. Venture:' I've seen you pull out a man's eyes and made him dance like a marionette with his own optic nerves! Brock Sampson: Yeah, but at least I didn't break his heart. Dr. Venture:'You don't know that. *'Dean: (after reading Colonel Gentleman's journal) This is a crazy person's diary. Trivia *Adult Swim prominently advertised this episode as guest starring Stephen Colbert (as the voice of Richard Impossible). *The title of this episode refers to the Doomsday Clock, which is currently at seven minutes to midnight and is maintained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The clock measures humanity's closeness to total annihilation by nuclear war. This episode parallels this fear, seeing as how humanity was almost annihilated by the Grand Galactic Inquisitor. *An adult version of Jonny Quest appears in this episode, and apparently the years have been even less kind to him than to Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture. Paranoid and delusional, clad only in his white briefs and trademark black shirt, and sporting a horrible mustache, Quest is apparently living alone in a submerged bathysphere, and may be suffering from acute drug addiction. While he isn't called "Jonny" in the episode, just "Mr. Quest," the credits do list him as Jonny Quest. **The same dolphin communication equipment that Jonny Quest's father, Doctor Benton Quest, was experimenting with in the Jonny Quest episode "Pirates from Below" plays in the background of the bathysphere scenes. The bathysphere itself is strongly reminiscent of Doctor Quest's vessel from that episode as well. The fact that Jonas Venture Sr. hid one of his components on board Quest Bell One implies that Doctor Venture and Doctor Quest knew each other quite well. *This is the second episode to prominently feature Richard and Sally Impossible. The last one, "Ice Station -- Impossible!", also included a guest character from Jonny Quest, Race Bannon. *1 Impossible Plaza resembles the Impossible Industries symbol, a lower-case i, with its rectangular building with a circular dish suspended above it. *At the end of "Ice Station -- Impossible!" Sally learned she was pregnant. Her son Rocket, an homage to Franklin Richards, has now been born. *When Richard Impossible is referring to his son as "the child" it shows his detatchment to his family, but it might also referance the fact that when Susan and Reed Richards have their son in Fantastic Four, he doesn't receive a name until two years later. **This idea is slightly emphasized by the fact that he stops referring to him as "the child" after Sally first said his name. *Among the toys Colonel Gentleman lists as toys he "would have liked to have as a child, but they weren't invented yet" are: Micronauts, The Scooby-Doo Monster Game, AT-AT Imperial Walker, Stay Alive: The Survival Game and Which Witch?. *Colonel Gentleman's diary contains an entry on female actresses who "Need To Be Smacked In The Mouth." This may be a reference to the allegations of domestic abuse and similar comments made by Sean Connery, upon whom Colonel Gentleman's voice and appearance are loosely based. *Jonas Jr. and the captain discuss Jesus Jones, a band popular in the 1980s, as they scuba-dive. When the captain first says "Jesus Jones", it sounded as if it was an exclamation of surprise, as Ladysmith Black Mambazo was for Dr. Venture earlier in the episode. *The robot named Huggie (or possibly, H.U.G.G.I.E.) that hugs H.E.L.P.eR. resembles an outsized H.E.R.B.I.E. Sally berates Richard earlier in the episode for building the robot as a replacement for actual affection. *In the credits, H.U.G.G.I.E. isn't given a voice credit, but there is a credit for "Voice of Impossible Computer" which granted Sally Impossible access to the elevator. *Mr. One and other agents from Tag Sale -- You're It! take Ned back to One Impossible Plaza. Exactly why they're working for Prof. Impossible is unrevealed. *What many fans assumed to be a scene of Dr. Venture and Dr. Jonas Venture Jr. swimming in diving suits in the opening credits for "Powerless in the Face of Death" is revealed to actually be the ex-pirate captain and Dr. Jonas Venture Jr. *The Grand Galactic Inquisitor's head rotates to focus one of four differently colored eyes on his subject; red, blue, yellow or green. Each eye seems to have different purposes, such as he used the green to locate Dr. Venture and grab a note while he tends to use the red one when talking. The yellow one apparently is able to read people's minds. *The alien impersonating Jonas Venture, Sr. seems to be a parody of Carl Sagan's novel Contact (and the movie based on it) which climaxes with the heroine meeting an alien who has taken on the form of her dead father. At the time of the film's release, a common complaint among moviegoers and critics was that we never got to see what the alien actually looked like. In seeming responce to that, the alien in this episode does show his true, apperantally hideous form (to the characters but not the viewer) much to the horror of Team Venture. *Posters spoofing the silhouettes from iPod ads can be seen on the subway train. *The ending credit for World Leaders Entertainment features a caricature of Queen Elizabeth I, proclaiming "That is bloody good soup!" This is a reference to the show's first-season ending credit, when WLE was known as Noodlesoup Productions: a cartoon boy lisped "that's good soup!" Bloody is a mild expletive popular in the U.K. *Judging by the age of Rocket, this episode must take place one and a half to two years after "Ice Station -- Impossible!". It is also revealed that Dr. Venture is now forty-four years old, and the entire episode takes place from nighttime on May 3 to midnight May 4. *The Grand Galactic Inquisitor bears a certain resemblance to the Marvel Comics villain Galactus, specifically in the shape of his helmet. Galactus, however, is massive in size compared to the merely tall Inquisitor. The multiple-face aspect of the Grand Galactic Inquisitor might be based on Marvel's character Living Tribunal, whose job is to pass judgement and maintain order in the universe. His rotating eyepiece also bears a resemblance to that worn by He-Man villian Tri-Klops. His role as an inquistor is also in line with another cosmic Marvel entity, the Celestials. *When Rusty Venture was ten years old, he wrote a letter to The Herculoids, calling them hippies for not fighting in Vietnam. The Herculoids was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon of the same vintage as Jonny Quest. **Rusty's dislike of hippies is slightly poignant mentioned here, since the events take place on May 4, the anniversary of the Kent State Shootings. *Professor Impossible cites Of Mice and Men as a reason for not wanting the mentally challenged Ned to babysit Rocket. John Steinbeck's classic novel features a mentally challenged man who does not realize his own strength, often injuring or killing objects of his affection. *While Jonas Venture's video is being played, Hank jokingly suggests that he is trapped in the Phantom Zone, a dimensional prison in the Superman comics, films, and television series. Goofs *Even though the alien posing as Jonas Venture says the stars cannot be seen in the city, in the after-credits scene, stars are clearly visible in the sky. *Sally refers to Ned as Rocket's uncle, even though Cody (who is not seen this episode) is her brother and Ned is their cousin. She could simply be using "uncle" as a term of endearment. *When the Grand Galactic Inquisitor finds Rocket, at least three of the alien's eyes are visible, all of which are green. *When the Grand Galactic Inquisitor is shining a red beam on Dr. Venture, a rear shot of him show the red eye on his left, not in front, but the front shots show it in the front. Escape to the House of Mummies Part II